Intro:
The New Year had me thinking a lot about goals, values, ambitions, motivations, life, and how excited I was to wear my new fuzzysocks. With all the talk of “look how far you’ve come in a year” and “can you believe that was only 1 year ago” I found myself even more reflective and nearly bubbling over with blog ideas – two of which involved writing about goals and values.
At my old job, we had a list of working norms – kind of like guiding values – and each day at our morning huddle, we would say what working norm we were focusing on that day. I loved that idea. I mean, obviously, in theory, you were living into every positive attribute every day you walked into the office, but how nice it was to really put your heart and soul behind one guiding value each week.
For this reason, I’ve decided to dedicate a new series of “Res” posts to my own kind of working norms – my own mini-resolutions. You don’t have to buy into any of these. You don’t have to make your own. But maybe at some point, it’ll make you think about what it would look like to radically change your life one week at a time.
Res 3: Fight the Good Fight
Yesterday, I went to the dollar store and bought poster board, psychedelic peace sign tape, and thick black, blue, and red markers. I taped the edges of my poster and in dark letters wrote:
Climate change is real
Satisfied with my handiwork, I moved to my next canvas.
Sexual assault is not “locker room talk”
The team was assembled, signs were complimented, and we were bound for mid-town Manhattan.
Yesterday, I went to the Women’s March – version NYC.
Yesterday, I partook in one of the biggest protests in US history.
I could spend hours writing about why this is important, but truthfully, all those posts have already been written.
Instead, I simply want to say that participating in this way with hundreds of thousands of compassionate, resolute New Yorkers was one of the most incredible things I have ever done in my life.
It was pure. It was friendly. It was community. Most of all, though, it was empowering.
The March reminded me that we will always be stronger when we work together against evil and against hate. It reminded me that there is good to be found everywhere – that millions of people have rejected this “new normal” of anger and hatred and prejudice.
This is only the beginning. The revolution starts now.
Resolution #3: Fight the Good Fight
It’s easy to join voices of the masses. Stepping onto the Manhattan street yesterday, I was engulfed by nothing but love. Unfortunately, that isn’t always the case. Nobody in our crowd had to worry about somebody knowing they were gay. Nobody had to worry about someone in that audience yelling at them for practicing their religion. Nobody had to worry about being treated poorly based on their country of origin.
But that’s not always the case. In hundreds of thousands of towns across America and beyond, people are being persecuted for who they are.
And that’s not okay.
When you are fortunate enough to stand in a crowd of people who support you – cheer until your voice cracks dry.
When you are fortunate enough to be the new generation voice in a place that so desperately needs an advocate for compassion – cheer, even if you are cheering alone.
Every single person has a responsibility to stand up for what is right. The time is now. Fight the Good Fight.
Love always,
Liz
